MicrowavedDreams.com weblog

In absentia

Well, it’s happened again, no sign of “daily” input from the Post a Day crew. I think they might still be at that big convention in Lisbon? Or possibly en route to some other locale. & I ain’t mad… but I would like to take one spare moment to note the irony of a group that is dedicated to getting folks to write each & every day, and this is at least the third time no topic has been supplied to us misguided bloggers.

Never fear, I am perfectly capable of rambling on about next-to-nothing – for days! But especially when I am short on time, I love to have a topic supplied for me. And since I went ahead & took a jab at these topic writers, let’s take yet another moment to give thanks, for the concept, the dedication and the 300 or so topics they have supplied thus far, shall we?

Thanks, guys! This has been a lot of fun & I hope yr having a good conference!

OK, now back to me…

Since there’s no topic to stick to, I of course want to talk about, myself. Or, more interestingly, Alaska! Today was kind of a whacky day here in Juneau. There was a band last night at the Rendezvous, called Honkey Tonk Habit, which I have heard before during Folk Fest – they are awesome. Bluegrass, with an upright bass, which is played by a girl, as are the drums. We took in cover charges for nearly 200 folks, and the bar’s capacity is only 165!

So Sam and I made it in to the bar a little late today, ordered out for super burritos, for breakfast (or sometimes you just have to let it go and call it lunch already). We then spent the next few hours working on signs and such, I redid the big coffee menu board, and the sandwich-board sign for outside the door (all of this is basically volunteer work, in hopes of working for them in the near future) (and I get free coffee).

Then we hung the signs, fixed some other stuff, and then the Alaskan caught on fire.

It’s ok, none of the rooms or it’s inhabitants were harmed, just the bar – which allegedly blew up in a giant ball of flames. Apparently it was an electrical fire – no one could find an extinguisher, and they were all just gonna make a run for it – but luckily one of the patrons had the good sense to point out that there is a hotel on the floors above, with people in the rooms, and thereby convinced the bartender to throw a bucket of water on the thing.

Little side note here, throwing water on an electrical fire is not the best idea, you could get seriously electrocuted – but in this case it worked out…

So tonight the Alaskan is closed. But the Rendezvous, which is just across the street, is open for business (with fresh signage, even!) and tonight they have Raisin’ Holy Hell on the roster, which is basically the best bluegrass band I have ever heard – but I’m not going because it’s just too overwhelming for me to be in a room with that many people. Possibly, if I learn to bar-tend, I think I could hang, with a bar between them and me, but to just hang out and act casual is a bit beyond me at this stage.

(Another side note, I got to listen to them do a sound check and practice for a while while I was working on the signs, which beat the shit out of hearing “Sweet Child of Mine” for the 8 thousandth time.)

And with the Alaskan closed, it is going to be a total fucking madhouse up in there, I can tell you that much from here. Fortunately, Sam is the world’s best bartender, or else I’ might be worried about him – hopefully he just remembers to have fun, and eat something…

And one final note of justification for me not going out tonight is, I am kind of getting tired of being hit on. And really, I’m not trying to toot my own horn here, most of these dudes are not playing with a full deck of teeth. And double really, they are all good-hearted men. Sourdoughs and drunks to be sure – but good people. So you can’t just tell some inebriated old dude, just trying to get his flirt on, to fuck off – or mebe you can, but I won’t…

So I smile, and mumble something non-committal and polite, and they give up after a while… Oh yes, they all give the hell up eventually. I have finally turned my shyness into an asset! Call it a higher tolerance level for uncomfortable silences, I will stonewall yr ass and shut you down! All with a smile.

But tonight I’d rather just eat this frozen pizza with Tenner the border collie for company, and watch a movie. I’m thinking True Grit…?